The Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation was established at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2023 through a $10 million gift from the Brock family, including John F. Brock III, his wife, Mary, and their three adult children – Rebecca Brock Dixon, John F. Brock IV and Major Brock.
The Brock family has supported the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and VUMC for many years through philanthropy and advocacy. Their many gifts have supported fellowships, cancer research, mentorship, and career development for scientists.
“The Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation is critical to our mission as a leading health care system, allowing us to accelerate translation of discoveries and new technologies to the public,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of VUMC and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “We are deeply grateful to the Brock family for their generosity and vision in helping us achieve this goal.”
The Brock Center was created to accelerate translation of discoveries and know-how to the public domain through commercialization and industry partnerships. It provides resources for Vanderbilt faculty to create startups, develop technologies and collaborate with biotech and healthtech companies. It also welcomes external pitches from startups seeking to validate products within Vanderbilt Health’s clinical environment.
Ken Holroyd, MD, MBA, Vice President for Tech Transfer and holder of the Brock Family Directorship for Applied Innovation, leads the Brock Center team. Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Scientific Officer for VUMC serves as the Executive Sponsor of the Brock Center.
Vanderbilt Health has a remarkable discovery engine and platform, and a substantial pipeline for patents and intellectual property. The Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation provides critical shared resources to launch companies and develop key industry and venture collaborations.
The Brock Center supports faculty-driven ventures through start-up incubation, commercialization pathways, IP support, connecting innovators with external partnerships and working closely with internal partners including Vanderbilt University’s Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization. The Brock Center has evaluated projects in social innovation, medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, health services and digital health spaces.
There are currently eight companies that have been incorporated by VUMC faculty through the Brock Center and 141 projects that the Center has been involved with in total. Incorporated companies and their innovators include:
- Brim Analytics, founded by Daniel Fabbri, PhD, is leveraging AI to extract data from unstructured medical records so clinicians can focus on insights and patient care.
- ImageAssist, founded by Michael Golinko, MD, is an application that delivers consistent, HIPAA-compliant, standardized before-and-after clinical photos with SmartGuides, background removal and EMR integrations.
- Heartvue.AI, founded by Jeffrey Dendy, MD, is transforming cardiac MRI analysis through automating image interpretation, reporting and billing.
- Vigil AI, founded by Peter Embí, MD, MS, focuses on algorithmovigilance – analyzing and monitoring artificial intelligence–driven health care for effectiveness and equity.
The Brock Center is committed to engaging and celebrating the innovation ecosystem in Nashville as well, hosting events throughout the year to bring together innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Each year, they honor an accomplished innovator with the Brock Center Innovator of the Year Award, and the awardee presents a lecture on the VUMC campus. The Center also hosts the annual Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Sessions, a conference bringing together leading experts in healthcare and technology from Vanderbilt Health and beyond to discuss artificial intelligence and its impact on healthcare, entrepreneurship and innovation.
The Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation stands as a transformative catalyst for advancing health care innovation at Vanderbilt and in Nashville. By bridging the gap between groundbreaking research and real-world applications, the Brock Center empowers faculty and entrepreneurs to bring life-changing technologies to patients and providers faster and more effectively. Through the Brock family’s visionary support, VUMC is not only accelerating commercialization and industry partnerships but also fostering a thriving innovation ecosystem that will shape the future of healthcare for generations to come.
